Russell Baze has ridden in 41,133 thoroughbred races in his 32-year career, and his 9,125 winners are second only to Laffit Pincay's 9,530 in the history of the sport. But only three of those races, and none of the wins, came in either a Breeders' Cup or Triple Crown event.

Still, he doesn't see the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Saturday at Belmont Park as a career-making event, even though he will be riding undefeated favorite Lost in the Fog.

"To win would be a feather in my cap, but I don't think my career hinges on it," Baze said in an interview in the jockeys' room at Golden Gate Fields. "I think I've acquitted myself pretty well when I've had a good opportunity in some big races."

Those would include victories in the Jim Beam Stakes with Event of the Year in 1998; the Oak Tree Invitational with Both Ends Burning in 1984 and Hawkster in 1989; and the Oak Leaf Stakes with Lite Light in 1990

"One race doesn't make a career, but it is a race that people will remember," said Greg Gilchrist, Lost in the Fog's trainer. "It would be a punctuation mark, but it's not going to affect what he's done before or what he's going to do. He has a lot to be proud of."

Baze has ridden Lost in the Fog flawlessly in nine of the colt's 10 wins, missing only the Riva Ridge Stakes on June 11 at Belmont Park because of injury. Gilchrist thinks it's no coincidence that the 11/4-length margin of victory that day under Edgar Prado was by far Lost in the Fog's smallest.

"Russell and the horse have a bond," Gilchrist said. "The horse goes so smoothly for him. Russell has so much confidence in him, and he has confidence in Russell. I think that he knows Russell Baze, and that's not something you'd get me to say very often."

Gilchrist first gave Baze a leg up on Lost in the Fog in April 2004, seven months before he ran in his first race.

"We were racing at Bay Meadows, and Ray (Harris, Baze's agent) said Gilly had a horse at Golden Gate that he wanted me to work," Baze said. "Gilly told me the horse's name and said I would want to remember it."

Lost in the Fog worked a fast half-mile, and then Gilchrist sent him to the farm to allow him to do some growing.

"He showed a lot of talent, but I've been on a lot that showed a lot of talent before they ever raced," Baze said. "I did think enough of him to keep tabs on him with Gilly."

Lost in the Fog won his debut by 71/2 lengths on Nov. 14 at Golden Gate Fields, and Baze became a true believer when he won the Arizona Juvenile by 143/4 lengths on Dec. 26 at Turf Paradise, running what was at the time the second-fastest 61/2 furlongs ever (1:13.55).

"The first time I really thought that he could be something special was after the race in Phoenix," Baze said. "Then he just pro- gressed to the races at Gulfstream Park and New York with all that shipping, and he's handled it so well. I've never been on a horse as cool as he is. Nothing bothers him."

Baze even discovered a new dimension to Lost in the Fog during the King's Bishop Stakes on Aug. 27 at Saratoga in the first Grade 1 victory by a Northern California horse since 2000.

"It was the first time that when other horses came to him that he stuck his neck out on his own without me pushing him," Baze said. "It was like he finally realized that he is not supposed to let them go by. Before, it didn't matter to him."

Such an attitude will come in handy Saturday in a field with 13 other horses pre-entered for the 6-furlong race and several of them possessing early speed. Of course, some horses in Lost in the Fog's previous races appeared to possess his kind of speed but didn't show it once the starting gate opened.

"He breaks quickly, and when the other guys see how easily he's doing it, they probably realize it would be suicide to try to go after him," Baze said. "They think he's going to crumble, but he doesn't. I don't doubt that one or two horses in the Breeders' Cup will send hard, and we'll play it by ear. He's shown that he doesn't have to have the lead if someone else wants to go too fast."

Lost in the Fog was a half-length behind the leader after a quarter-mile in the Arizona Juvenile and 11/2 lengths behind after a quarter-mile and 1 behind after a half-mile in the Swale Stakes on March 5 at Gulfstream Park.

"You can say he'll be on or near the lead (Saturday)," Baze said with a smile.

In his only previous Breeders' Cup mounts, Baze finished next-to last on both Lite Light, a 9-to-1 shot in the 1990 Juvenile Fillies, and Toccet, a 47-to-1 shot in the 2003 Turf.

As luck would have it, he was riding in Southern California when Lite Light was purchased by M.C. Hammer's Oaktown Stable and transferred to Northern California trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who always looks to Baze to ride his horses. Lite Light went on to win four Grade 1 races in 1991, including the Kentucky Oaks, under Corey Nakatani.

Baze also rode the Gilchrist-trained Soviet Problem in her Northern California races, but Chris McCarron rode her elsewhere, including a second-place finish in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Sprint. Replacing Baze with a jockey with more major-race experience didn't occur to Gilchrist this time.

"With this horse, if I had the choice of any jockey in the world, Russell would always be first," Gilchrist said. "I listen to Russell a lot, and he will tell me information that helps me in my training."

Trainer Bob Baffert gave Baze his only Triple Crown mount, using him to ride Semoran to a 14th-place finish in the 1996 Kentucky Derby. Semoran went off at 5-to-1 as half of an entry with the Baffert-trained Cavonnier, who finished second, but he would have been a huge longshot had he been a single betting interest.

Lost in the Fog's reputation mirrors that of Baze because though they are well-known nationally, neither has won at the absolute top level of the sport. Lost in the Fog's first nine wins came against horses his own age, and the only time he faced older opponents, they were vastly overmatched in the Bay Meadows Speed Handicap.

"It's going to be a highlight of my career, but I can't say that I'll be very nervous because once the gate opens, it's just another horse race," Baze said. "It's been a heckuva ride so far."